Radar

Radar

July 20, 1999|By SUSAN FRIEND Daily Press

CNU TO TENANTS: MOVE. Tenants at two NN apartment complexes adjacent to CNU - College Arms and College Courts Apartments, both on Warwick Boulevard - have been given six weeks by the university to move out. Tenants received a letter last week from Robert Sherman III, property management director for Harrison & Lear Inc. It said CNU, which owns the apartments, "has decided to close both complexes. We find it necessary to give you 30 days notice to vacate your apartment no later than midnight Aug. 31. We appreciate your past tenancy with us and hope that the termination of your lease will not be a hardship." Word has it both complexes will be torn down. College President Paul Trible hedged on that point Monday, saying, "We expect the buildings eventually will be torn down, but there is no timetable." CNU has been buying land along Warwick Boulevard for some time now, in anticipation of creating a grander, more visible entrance to the college. A large fountain is already under construction, and Radar hears the university has even turned to its own employees to raise money for the structure. Meanwhile, Elsie Kennedy, a 17-year tenant of College Arms, said Monday the letter telling her to move surprised her. "I knew it was coming, but I was surprised it was this soon. I thought maybe I'd have at least another year here." Sherman's letter offered tenants help in finding a place in other apartments managed by Harrison & Lear. But when she called, Kennedy said, "they didn't seem to have anything."

SOL Skeptic. Chuck Maranzano, an assistant principal at Lafayette High in JCC, took the opportunity to reveal some concerns about Virginia's controversial new Standards of Learning when he spoke at the recent National Evaluation Institute in Michigan. Maranzano, who is also director of public relations for the Virginia Association of Secondary Principals, said the SOL-type "high stakes" standardized tests may be "too narrow a view of performance," considering the variety of learning styles in student populations that are increasingly diverse and complex. The institute was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and several other groups.

IN THE MONEY. The latest campaign spending reports filed last week with the State Board of Elections show that Hampton Democratic House of Delegates candidate Jay Joseph has moved ahead of Republican candidate Phil Larrabee Jr. As of June 30 - the most recent reporting deadline - Joseph had raised $82,683, more than half of it in the month leading up to that deadline. Larrabee has raised $68,277, but only about $15,000 of that amount was contributed in the latest reporting period. He also has loaned his own campaign $10,000. Back in April, Larrabee led Joseph in fund-raising by a 3-to-1 margin. Both men far outdistance City Councilman Ross Kearney, an independent candidate for the House seat that Vince Behm is giving up. Kearney has raised about $1,800 to date. Joseph also leads in the amount of cash on hand, with almost $63,000 to Larrabee's $52,600.

TOO SOON FOR SIGNS. Phil Larrabee, the Republican candidate for Hampton delegate, ran into sign trouble recently. The problem: He had some up. State law mandates that campaigns hold off on political billboards until 60 days before the election. Larrabee had put up three signs across from and next to Gloria Dei Lutheran Church on Fox Hill Road.

BLIPS, TIPS ... HOMEPAC, the PAC for the Peninsula Housing & Builders Association, will conduct a series of voter registration drives, the first of which is 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday at its office at 760 McGuire Place, NN. ... Interplay 1999, the eighth annual fund-raiser for the Peninsula AIDS Foundation, raised more than $33,000 for the agency. The gala, at the Charles H. Taylor Arts Center two weekends ago, was a sellout.